My hands of scarlet flame; rubies alight.Victory through surrender, love.Shall you miss me, dear desire; shall you miss me?Pine for me once I’ve gone.Will I yearn for you? Perhaps; yet you shall dance alone.Fade with my scars of crimson and cobalt; desire, you will wither, yes.Victory through surrender, love.Victory is won.Victoria Stewart, CA, Xi'an International School

EDITOR’S CHOICE SELECTION

($100 Scholarship Prize)

Cantu Hominum (The Song of Men)

I do not remember how I came hence, into this pitted earth—entrenched

And caked in dust revered as bones, enwreathed in matted undertones,

Repeating, since embryo, since fetal light—repeating a mantra to rosy nights:

Look at me, an eye for an eye—look at me, your limbs for mine.

O Cantu hominum, Alleluia, sing!

I, the daughter of whirring lines, as much I, the daughter of sanded time

Of rajas and buddhas and bishops and tramps

Of jailers, murderers, the Common Man,

Made from the ash of the primordial flame, I do not remember from whence I came.

Cantu hominum, abide with me!

Repeating, in unison, the hymn resounds—repeating, the chorus of dust profound:

Look at me, an eye for an eye—look at me, your limbs for mine.

And do not weigh this tune I sing—I know no fallacy in melodies

Intoned, galvanizing, beneath the shades—of the elm, sanctified, of the cross elite